In only 13% of observations was there signage in the reception area indicating a voter ID could be obtained. In almost half the visits, neither signs nor written information was observed. While most PennDOT staff encountered by our volunteers were familiar with the request for voter ID, in nearly half the visits individuals were given incomplete or inaccurate information. Few PennDOT staff volunteered that a voter ID could be acquired for free, and in three in 10 cases, volunteers were told incorrectly that they would have to pay. The standard form for obtaining a non-photo ID does not indicate that it is available for free to certain voters, and a second form required to get the ID was not readily available. The number and hours of operation of PennDOT offices are quite limited. There are 71 driver’s license centers in all of Pennsylvania, and nine counties do not have any centers at all. In an additional 20 counties, the driver’s license center is open three days a week or less. One in five volunteers had to return a second time because the Driver License center or Photo License center was closed.

Two of the observers were from a Houston-based group called True the Vote, an offshoot of the Houston tea party known as the King Street Patriots. Their stated goal is to prevent voter fraud, which the group and founder Catherine Engelbrecht claims is undermining free and fair elections....Voting rights groups say white poll watchers in minority areas can have a disenfranchising impact even if there’s no direct interaction, and as a result the debate has unfolded largely in a racial and partisan context.

Why are the observers targeting voting precincts with large minority populations?This poll might shed some light on their tactics.

A federal judge on Wednesday said he was prepared to grant a permanent injunction that would block controversial restrictions on voter registration groups passed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) last year....The Florida Times-Union reported earlier this week that voter registration groups had largely shut down their operations in the wake of the new strictures, a trend that has done serious damage to registration trends of Democratic voters.

A Raleigh-based group devoted to reducing the potential for voter fraud presented the N.C. Board of Elections on Friday with a list of nearly 30,000 names of dead people statewide who are still registered to vote.

The Voter Integrity Project describes itself as a nonpartisan group aimed at clean, fair elections....Earlier this summer, the organization sued to have 528 Wake County residents it claimed were not U.S. citizens removed from the voter registration. The county elections board investigated the complaint and found that all of the voters were citizens and eligible to vote.

On what basis do you justify removing the constitutional right of our soldiers around the world to vote? I live in Brazil, but I'm a U.S. citizen, and I have the right to vote according to the U.S. Constitution. But according to John Falardo Henry, that just won't do, my vote has to be taken away just because I don't happen to be in the United States (and territories) on election day.

What I really want to get you started on is how you equate dead people still on the rolls with dead people voting.

Since we keep records on dead people, and records of who can vote, and records of who voted, how many of those thousands of dead people have been caught voting? Why aren't you complaining about those? The numbers are right there for everyone to see.

THAT'S what I want to get you started on. I shouldn't have put two separate points in that post. It distracted you.

Galoot wrote:On what basis do you justify removing the constitutional right of our soldiers around the world to vote?

Really? I said that?

What I actually said was:

"Pretty much no absentee or early voting. If you want to vote, show up at the polls on election day."

Not no absentee voting. Just pretty much no or very limited absentee voting.

We have that policy here and it works pretty well. The only ones who can vote absentee, as a group, are military serving outside PR and students studying outside PR. I am fine with that. Others can, in theory, get absentee ballots on a case by case basis but in practice it is difficult.

I looked into it couple elections ago when I was going to be in Chicago on election day. I wound up not even trying. Maybe I should have voted in Chicago. They don't seem too fussy who votes.

As for early voting, we do have some provisions for early voting by police, election workers, medical personnel and others who need to be working during the election. But early voting in this case is about 12 hours before regular voting. There are also special provisions made for those incarcerated (we let our felons vote), hospitalized or otherwise unable to get to the polls.

It works out very well for us. We have very high registration and turnout and, in the 40 years I have been here not even jokes about election fraud.

Galoot wrote: I live in Brazil, but I'm a U.S. citizen, and I have the right to vote according to the U.S. Constitution.

really? You cast a US federal ballot?

Not a state ballot?

How does that work? Can I get in on that?

All of your voting rights come from whatever state you are citizen/resident of, not from the federal government.

Our citizenship status here in PR is the same as yours (I assume you were born in the US). It is identical to anyone born in the upper 50. So where do we go to vote for President?

Every 5-10 years someone takes a case to the Federal courts demanding their "right" to vote. Every time the case is thrown out. There is no federal right to vote, only state rights.

"The constitutional claim is readily answered. Voting for President and Vice President of the United States is governed neither by rhetoric nor intuitive values but by a provision of the Constitution. This provision does not confer the franchise on "U.S. citizens" but on "Electors" who are to be "appoint[ed]" by each "State," in "such Manner" as the state legislature may direct, equal to the number of Senators and Representatives to whom the state is entitled. U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 2; see also id. amend. XII. (emph added-JRH)

<snip>

That the franchise for choosing electors is confined to "states" cannot be "unconstitutional" because it is what the Constitution itself provides. Hence it does no good to stress how important is "the right to vote" for President.

If I live in one of the 50 states, I get voting rights as a citizen of that state. If I move out of the state temporarily, I can generally keep my state voting rights. If I move out permanently, I lose my state voting rights. (Your mileage may vary state to state but I believe the above is generally true)

You say you live in Brazil. Is that a temporary thing? Do you plan to come back to the US anytime soon? If not, I would say that by not being a resident and citizen of (your voting state name here) you are committing moral, if not legal fraud.

I was stationed in PR in 72 and voted a Virginia absentee ballot (McGovern). As soon as I switched my legal residence to PR, I had to give up my Virginia voting rights.

Galoot wrote:But according to John Falardo Henry, that just won't do, my vote has to be taken away just because I don't happen to be in the United States (and territories) on election day.

Actually, if you are a resident/citizen of one of the territories (or PR) you don't get to vote in any federal elections either.